Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Dear Clem

Handing these bags out the entrance to Prahran Market was a nice promotional idea, but sorry Clem Newton Brown, I am not in your district and in voting order, I will possibly vote Green, Democrat, Labor, People Power, Liberal, DLP and Family First. As you can see, your party is low on the list. I have little respect for the Liberal Party.

I am not sure why he was selected to represent the district of Prahran. It is a marginal seat and he seems like a bit of a loose cannon to me.

I met his Labor opponent once, the sitting member. Tony Lupton came across as sincere and also practical and honestly pragmatic. I suppose my district of Albert Park will re-elect John Thwaites. He is ok. The gay icon description is wearing thin though, especially as he is getting older. I have not met him, but at the Farmers Market at the Peanut Farm in St Kilda, he did say hi to us. Again the Liberal competition seems not great but I guess they did not want to waste a good candidate on an un-winable seat.

I was not going to be working on election day and I was looking forward to the trek to the polling booth in South Melbourne and the sausage sizzle. But now I am working for pretty well the whole voting period, so I will have to vote in advance at the pre election polling location.

I think it was only the second time I voted, I had to vote absentee on polling day. I was not very politically educated, but I knew which party I wanted to vote for. There were no how to vote cards and one of the ballot papers was not marked with the parties. I don't think this happens now, but I don't want to vote accidently for Family First, so I have checked all the candidates, parties etc at the Victorian Electoral Commission website. Good website and easy to navigate.

My public diary, not my private one. I live in a highrise apartment building in inner Melbourne. My interests are varied but top of the list are old buildings, history and public transport. You will find plenty of personal experiences to read in my blog too. Just be aware I am not an historian, amateur or otherwise. While I make some effort to be accurate, I don't do proper methodical research so I advise you check all details on your own behalf should you wish to quote me. Your comments are very welcome, but try to be nice to my fragile yet overblown ego. I enjoy receiving email. You can find my eddress in my complete profile.